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There is Abdulaziz Al Farsi, from Oman and a cancer specialist, whose debut novel, [Weeping Earth . . . Laughing Saturn],
which we excerpt, tells, through different narrators, of the life and
complexity of tensions in an Omani town whose inhabitants want a modern
life. Lebanese author Ahmad Ali El-Zein, who works as a TV presenter for a celebrity profiles programme, has authored four novels; the latest, [The Edge of Oblivion],
which we excerpt here, is the first volume of a trilogy about fictional
hero Abdul Jalil Ghazal – whom we meet limping from the ruins of an
intolerable desert prison, continually sucked back into his dark and
horrifying memories as he tries to make sense of his present
predicament. Also from Lebanon is May Menassa, with an excerpt from her novel [Walking in the Dust],
which was short-listed this year for the inaugural Arabic “Booker”
prize, and which tells the powerful story of dealing with tragedy and
loss in war from a very young age. From Syrian author and poet Maher Sharafeddine comes
an excerpt from his debut novel in which the narrator, whose family
straddles Syria and Lebanon, is consumed by memories of dreadful prison
experiences and a poverty-stricken but adventure-filled childhood in
the multi-ethnic town of Hasaka. Renowned fiction writer and dramatist Abdel Khaliq al-Rikabi is one of the few major Iraqi authors to have stayed in the country; we present an excerpt from his acclaimed novel [Seventh Day of Creation] which weaves narrative upon narrative in a search of how to explain his country’s history and tradition.

Banipal 32, Summer 2008, presents poetry from Syria by three poets writing in three different languages: the late Mamdouh Adwan in Arabic, Mohja Kahf who writes in English, and Adel Karasholi who
writes in German – all of them highly accomplished and published poets.
We also have two new poetic voices, the young Egyptian poets Ahmad Yamani and Mohamed Metwalli. Literary translator from Arabic to German Hartmut Fähndrich is interviewed, celebrating his achievement of fifty translations of Arabic fiction. In Banipal 32, unfortunately, we also say farewell to his fellow colleague Doris Kilias,
“the voice of Naguib Mahfouz in German”, who sadly died in June 2008,
and who set tremendous standards with her translations of Naguib
Mahfouz and other contemporary Arab authors. We express our sadness,
also, in a tribute to Egyptian author Albert Cossery, a friend
of Banipal, who died in Paris, the “Voltaire of the Nile” as the French
press called him. In this issue we present Part 2 of the feature on
Syrian Literature, and look forward to continuing it in the
Autumn/Winter issue with a number of equally important authors. Until
then, enjoy your reading!